ANAHEIM — There aren’t many veterans who’ve managed to escape the bullets.

And on a last-place team, that shouldn’t come as any surprise.

Ryan Smyth suffered the indignity of being a healthy scratch.

Ryan Jones opened the season in Oklahoma City.

Jeff Petry and Nick Schultz have both been sent to the press box.

Devan Dubyk watched Edmonton bring in another goalie to try and take his job.

And Friday in Vancouver, it was Sam Gagner’s turn in the crosshairs.

He found himself demoted to the fourth line between Ryan Jones and Luke Gazdic in Edmonton’s 4-0 loss to the Canucks.

“I talked to Sam earlier in the day and let him know where I was coming from and why my decision was made,” said head coach Dallas Eakins, who is going where previous coaches wouldn’t when it comes to underachievement.

“He understands and knows that he has to do some things better.”

Gagner is not alone in that respect, there aren’t two players on that team who don’t need to bring more, but he’s the latest and most pressing project.

“I want to be a first-line player,” said the 24-year-old centre. “It just means I have to be better. I think I’ve had spurts where I’ve been pretty good. I just have to find it consistently — keep playing hard and just be responsible.”

The responsibility element is paramount as far as Eskins is concerned. Gagner’s points per game have picked up after an understandably slow start because of a badly broken jaw — he has 10 points in his last 14 games — but his own end of the ice has become an area of concern.

“I could care less if Sam has a point in the next 10 games,” said Eakins. “This is about how we’ve got to understand as a group that we have to keep pucks out of our net.

“It’s not just D zone coverage, it’s hanging on to pucks in the offensive zone, keeping plays alive. It’s about possession, but when we do lose it, our responsibilities are very simple in our end and we never want to be cheating the play.”

Gagner’s picked it up a bit from his slow start, when he was -10 in his first seven games, but on a team with a weak blue line and inconsistent goaltending, defensive mistakes are not easily hidden, and he’s still at the centre of too many goals against film sessions.

“A lot of the times (a mistake) ends up in a good chance,” he said. “You just can’t have them. I have to try and shore that up. Offensively, I feel like I’m making plays and starting to produce at a clip that I’m accustomed to, but defensively I just have to keep working at it.

“I’m working hard there, I’m trying to get better. I think it’s a case of maybe some misreads here and there. It’s fixable, I just have to keep working.”

Having to throw away a summer’s worth of work and play with a full face shield hasn’t helped his situation, but that doesn’t explain misreads, giveaways and being out of position.

“I’ve played enough games now where I should be able to get it back,” he said of his timing. “I’m excited to get the facemask off (in a week or two) to see if that makes a difference, but I have to kind of look within here and find another level.”

Eakins has no doubt Gagner will address and shore up his weaknesses. He already saw signs of it against the Canucks on Friday.

“I thought Gags was one of the few guys who was able to make a play. He understood when to move the puck and when to get rid of it. I’m not worried about Sam, he’s a character guy, he’s going to rebound.”

As Advertised in the Edmonton SUN

Sam Gagner's turn in Oilers' doghouse

ANAHEIM — There aren’t many veterans who’ve managed to escape the bullets.

And on a last-place team, that shouldn’t come as any surprise.

Ryan Smyth suffered the indignity of being a healthy scratch.

Ryan Jones opened the season in Oklahoma City.

Jeff Petry and Nick Schultz have both been sent to the press box.

Devan Dubyk watched Edmonton bring in another goalie to try and take his job.

And Friday in Vancouver, it was Sam Gagner’s turn in the crosshairs.

He found himself demoted to the fourth line between Ryan Jones and Luke Gazdic in Edmonton’s 4-0 loss to the Canucks.

“I talked to Sam earlier in the day and let him know where I was coming from and why my decision was made,” said head coach Dallas Eakins, who is going where previous coaches wouldn’t when it comes to underachievement.

“He understands and knows that he has to do some things better.”

Gagner is not alone in that respect, there aren’t two players on that team